"A melody so sweet it calls to you—imploring from the soul, growing stronger, becoming a part of your story. Like a bow drawn back, ready to release the final note... that's how I once saw the one I loved."
The image of perfection Rasen had built around Cristal crumbled in a blink.
What once felt sacred now revealed itself as a mirage.
A shattered mask torn away by time and circumstance.
—I couldn't bear not seeing you, —Cristal whispered, pressing a damp cloth to his fevered brow— I searched every corner of my memory for you. Too many months without you...
The coldness in his gaze was the mirror of a storm roiling within.
—I thought your absence would make me hate you, —she continued— But it only hollowed me further.
The touch of her lips was little more than a ghost.
To Rasen, it wasn't comfort—it was betrayal.
A desecration of Clear's memory, his former fiancée long dead.
Her shadow lingered—silent—in the darkest corner of his mind.
Cristal searched his eyes and found nothing but an abyss.
—Take it... —she offered herself— If it's what keeps you here, with me.
Rasen recoiled, as if her closeness might devour him.
—No... I can't.
Sariel's voice pulled from inside.
The thirst clawed at him.
—You're everything to me, Rasen. I love you.
The words hung in the air.
But he didn't meet her eyes.
—Don't trust me, Cristal… Not even I do.
She kissed him one last time, leaving the taste of salt behind.
After that, she no longer sought him with the same desperation.
But her presence lingered—an echo…
...a cage without bars.
Days later, Rasen lay motionless, face buried in a pillow, trying to smother the screaming in his mind.
—You called?
Lionel's voice cut through the trance.
Rasen rose, glassy-eyed, hands trembling.
He pushed a cup across the bedside table.
—Drink it.
Lionel frowned. The liquid was thick, red, nearly black.
—What is this?
—Not a request. —Rasen's tone was blade-sharp, devoid of emotion. —Drink it.
The cup fell abruptly, before even tasting it, the blood was sliding onto the carpet. The chains slithered from Rasen's body—gripping, threatening, pointing directly at his eyes of Lionel, as if the slightest movement could pierce through them.
—You'll be my eyes. My ears. When I'm not myself.
Lionel's voice cracked.
—You're not Rasen anymore… are you?
A smile bent Rasen's lips as his head lifted—his face aglow, red eyes gleaming.
—There's no more Rasen. Call me Sariel.
The chain's tip hovered between Lionel's eyes.
The cup on the floor was crushed by the simple movement of the other chains, shattering it without even giving him time to look.
A blue flame danced at Sariel's fingertips as he stepped from the bed.
Curtains drew closed, snuffing out the last of the sun.
The scent of jasmine filled the room—a perverse irony.
Lionel sat frozen, as Sariel stepped out, chains clinging to his body like armor.
—We'll meet soon, brother Varek, —he whispered.
Each step down the firelit hallway deepened his presence.
He was no longer just stronger—he was something else entirely.
Something wrong.
For the first time in years, Lionel felt true fear.
Not for his life—but for what stood before him.
There was no humanity left.
No friend.
Only a void, dressed in skin.
While Sariel faded into shadow, Cristal walked the tower's halls—toward the room where Rasen had once been confined.
A metallic stench hit her.
She stepped inside.
Bodies—drained and shriveled.
Blood across the walls.
Flesh.
Footprints.
—No..."He can't have done this… not him."—she whispered, hand covering her mouth.
She ran.
She found him in the dining hall:
Calm.
Serene.
Smiling.
—Cristal, join us, —Lionel said, expression blank.
—Sit down, love, —Rasen added.
She obeyed.
Out of fear. Out of love. Out of habit.
—You'll leave this house, Cristal… as soon as you confirm something for me.
Her brows furrowed.
—What are you talking about?
He held out a letter she had tried to hide.
A blue flame devoured it.
—This... was written in my hand, —he said, grin sharp—You are a liar.
He stood. Left her there.
Alone. Unmade.
Cristal remained silent, listening to the echoes of her own thoughts bouncing off the walls.
Everything seemed to have stopped. Except for the pendulum.
In one corner, an old clock ticked away with cruel precision.
*Tac. Toc. Toc.*
Each sound was a slap. Each tick, a confirmation that she had lost control.
Then she heard it.
No footsteps. No chains.
A whisper, as if the walls were breathing.
"You were never part of the future. You were just a distraction to delay it."
Cristal turned around. No one was there.
But the voice... it was hers.
His.
*Sariel's*.
And for the first time, she understood that she was no longer speaking to the man she loved.
But to the demon who used his face.
The mansion felt alive. Breathing.
Sariel walked its corridors—his steps an omen.
—Time they all remember why I exist, —he murmured.
His voice echoed—a storm foretold.
Determination shone in her eyes. It was a silent but intense fire that promised not to be easily extinguished. The storm that awaited her on the other side was no less dangerous than the one Sariel unleashed, but Aisha knew her path must intersect with those who had once been part of her life… even if that meant facing the shadows of her own past.
**Meanwhile…**
Aisha sat by the window of the descending plane...took a deep breath, preparing for the inevitable.